Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,964 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day moving average is $41.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).